Carol Gorman

Carol Gorman is Passionate about Painting

Carol graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in painting. A member of Delta Phi Delta (AIC’s Honorary Art Society), she was selected to participate in the Foreign Traveling Fellowship
Challenge of 1956. Her studies at the AIC afforded her the opportunity to learn from the masters - those on the walls of that great museum, but also from her illustrious instructors who included painting
luminaries Boris Anisfeld, Louis Ritman, Robert Lifendal and LeRoy Neiman.

She began her professional career as a fashion illustrator at Charles A. Stevens where she remained until her marriage in 1958 when her focus shifted to becoming a wife and mother. As time permitted, she
continued to paint while also embracing other art mediums that captured her imagination: quilting, pottery, and natural floral design and construction. It was in floral design that Carol began to notice a
change in herself and in her work. Her design work became confident and bold, yet delicate and flowing - iconoclastic. Her clients loved her work, seeking her out. Increasingly, other designers tried to immitate
her approach. “I think it was the first time I stopped holding myself back - where I stopped worrying about what others think, and just express what I wanted to - how I wanted to,” Carol explained.

A deep desire to return to the Fine Arts kept surfacing, and she knew that she needed to sever her floral design work in order to channel her focus back into the Fine Arts. She couldn’t do both. Carol began
by taking classes at the College of DuPage. It had the familiar resonance and rhythm of her earlier experiences at the AIC. “I don’t know how long I would have stayed there reacquainting myself with the
familiar,” explained Carol, “but teachers kept encouraging me to explore pastels - a completely new medium. I decided to take the risk.” It was during that shift Carol attended life drawing classes at the
DuPage Art League and discovered the work of George Shipperly and oil pastels. “George has been a mentor to me. I find that, at this point in my life, I can really attack a piece. I love the vibrancy and
richness of the colors. I love the way you can work and play into them.”

Carol’s oil pastels have been exhibited in juried and invitational shows, including:
Bloomingdale Art Museum
“Art in Your Eye”, Batavia
Norris Cultural Center, St. Charles
Batavia Theater
Solo show at the Southminster Presbyterian Church, Glen Ellyn.
She had a one person show the DuPage Art League and has won several Best of Show, Special Merit and Merit awards.

Contact the Artist